System and method providing a restaurant menu dynamically generated based on revenue management information

ABSTRACT

A price associated with a menu item is automatically determined based at least partly on revenue management information. A request for a menu is received and a menu, including the automatically determined price, is generated in response to the request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present invention is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/947,798 entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Dynamically Managing Vending Machine Inventory Prices” to Daniel E.Tedesco, James A. Jorasch and Robert R. Lech and filed on Oct. 9, 1997,and is further a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/083,483 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Selling an AgingFood Product,” to Jay S. Walker, Andrew S. Van Luchene, Jonathan Ottoand Daniel E. Tedesco and filed on May 22, 1998 (attorney docket numberWD-98-020), which is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/920,116 entitled “Method and System forProcessing Supplementary Product Sales at a Point-of-Sale Terminal toJay S. Walker, James A. Jorasch and Andrew S. Van Luchene and filed onAug. 26, 1997 (attorney docket no. WD2-97-054), which is acontinuation-in-part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/822,709 entitled System and Method for Performing Lottery TicketTransactions Utilizing Point-of-Sale Terminals to Jay S. Walker, JamesA. Jorasch and Sanjay K. Jindal and filed on Mar. 21, 1997 (attorneydocket no. WD2-97-006), the entire disclosures of each are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to restaurant menus. In particular,the present invention relates to a restaurant menu dynamically generatedbased on revenue management information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Typically, a restaurant, such as a sit down restaurant, giveseach customer a menu listing a number of items and associated prices.Menu items can include, for example, appetizers, salads, main dishes anddrinks. The menus are pre-printed and every customer that visits therestaurant receives an identical menu. The price of each item on themenu is determined by the restaurant based on, for example, the expectedfood costs associated with the item and the expected popularity of theitem.

[0004] Because of the time required to select menu items and todetermine appropriate prices, a restaurant generally updates its menuinfrequently, such as once per season or even once per year. In additionto the time required to update the menu, a restaurant may need to trainemployees and reconfigure automated order-taking devices with respect tonew items on the menu and/or new prices.

[0005] As a result of being updated so infrequently, a restaurant menudoes not take advantage of current revenue management information. Forexample, an item may currently be more popular, that is, in higher“demand,” than predicted, and therefore the item's price on thepre-printed menu will be too low. Likewise, an item may turn out to beless popular and have a price that is too high. In either case, therestaurant may not be making as much profit as it could.

[0006] In addition to an item's popularity, the amounts of variousingredients currently available in the kitchen's pantry, or therestaurant's “supply” or “inventory,” are not typically used to adjustprices on a pre-printed menu. For example, a restaurant may have anunusually large number of steaks in the pantry. In this case, therestaurant may lose money if some of the steaks are not sold and areultimately discarded. It may be preferable to slightly reduce the priceof some items on the menu, if more efficient use of the restaurant'sinventory is made.

[0007] To solve this problem, a restaurant may introduce a number ofweekly, or even daily, items, or “specials,” selected to efficiently usecurrent inventory. Such specials may be orally presented by a server,hand written on a display board or included on a small piece of paperattached to the regular pre-printed menu. This approach, however, isonly of limited use because a relatively small number of specials canrealistically be offered. Moreover, the specials do not change the priceof existing items on the menu.

[0008] In addition to not dynamically adjusting prices on a menu, arestaurant does not dynamically adjust which items are included on amenu. For example, when a restaurant temporarily runs out of aparticular item, customers may still attempt to order the item only tobe told that the item is not available. This may frustrate customers andcomplicate the order taking process.

[0009] Even if a menu could be generated on a dynamic basis to reflect,for example, the current supply and demand of various items on the menu,problems would arise when calculating a bill for a particular customer.For example, if each customer's menu had a unique set of menu itemsand/or prices, a server may need to manually calculate a bill for eachcustomer based on the particular order and the particular set of priceson that menu.

[0010] Moreover, dynamically generating prices on a menu could upsetsome customers. For example, a customer that frequently visits arestaurant may prefer that his or her favorite item always has the sameprice. On the other hand, customers that do not frequently visit therestaurant, and who therefor are not familiar with the “usual” pricesfor items on the menu, may have no such problem. Similarly, a restaurantmay want to consider the needs of a frequent customer, such as acustomer that orders a steak dinner every Friday at 7:00 p.m., whendetermining whether the current inventory justifies including an item ona non-frequent customer's menu.

[0011] In addition to a pre-printed “general” menu, a restaurant mayalso have, for example, a pre-printed dessert menu and/or a pre-printedchild's menu. These menus have the same limitations discussed about therespect to general menus.

[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,222 to Kurland et al. discloses an integratedrestaurant communication system that dynamically updates a menudisplayed on a video monitor. The menu can be updated, for example, at amanager's discretion. The Kurland patent does not address the automateduse of supply and demand information to dynamically adjust items andprices on a restaurant menu.

[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,067 to Dorr discloses a restaurant managementinformation and control system. A central processor computes restaurantmanagement information, such as the popularity of items on the menu andthe current inventory of the restaurant. The Dorr patent does notdisclose that this information could be used to dynamically adjust itemsand prices on the restaurant's menu.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] To alleviate the problems inherent in the prior art, the presentinvention introduces systems and methods that provide a restaurant menudynamically generated based on revenue management information.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, a price associatedwith a menu item is automatically determined based at least partly onrevenue management information. A request for a menu is received and amenu, including the automatically determined price, is generated inresponse to the request.

[0016] With these and other advantages and features of the inventionthat will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention maybe more clearly understood by reference to the following detaileddescription of the invention, the appended claims and to the severaldrawings attached herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a block diagram overview of a system that provides arestaurant menu dynamically generated based on revenue managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a processing module for the centralserver shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0019]FIGS. 3A to 3C are tabular representations of the price managementtable database shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0020]FIG. 4 is a tabular representation of the frequent customerdatabase shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0021]FIG. 5 is a tabular representation of the menu database shown inFIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022]FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow charts illustrating a method ofgenerating a revenue managed menu in a sit-down restaurant environmentaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023]FIGS. 7A and 7B are flow charts illustrating a method of receivingand processing orders according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0024]FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of generating adesert menu according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The present invention is directed to systems and methods thatprovide a restaurant menu that is dynamically generated based on revenuemanagement information. As a contextual example of the presentinvention, consider a customer that enters a restaurant. According toone embodiment of the present invention, an employee requests a menu forthat customer, and a menu is printed out in response to the request. Ifa group of customers enter the restaurant, the number of people in theparty can be used to “automatically” generate enough menus for thegroup. As used herein, the terms “automatic” and “automatically” referto actions that are not performed in an entirely manual way.

[0026] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pricesof items on the menu, as well as which items are included on the menu,may be automatically and “dynamically” determined based at least partlyon revenue management information, such as the supply of and demand forvarious items on the menu. As used herein, the terms “dynamic” and“dynamically” refer to actions that are performed in substantiallyreal-time. A code, such as a “table” based code or a “menu” based code,associated with the prices on a particular menu is also generated. Thetable or menu code can then be used when the customer places an order toautomatically calculate the correct price for an ordered item.

[0027] Note that a table code could be generated by the system atdifferent points during a customer's visit. It could be generated whenthe number of menus is entered and the menu code is generated, when thecustomer is taken to a table, when an order is taken, etc. A physicaltable in the restaurant can always have the same table code, or adifferent table code can be generated for each customer.

[0028] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a systemthat customizes a menu for a frequent customer. This could be done, forexample, by having the customer swipe a card with a magnetic stripethrough a reader. A visual recognition machine, or even an employee,could instead identify frequent customers. Standard prices and/or thefrequent customer's favorite menu items could then be used to generate acustomized menu. The items ordered by the frequent customer and/or theprices paid for those items can also be stored in a frequent customerdatabase for future use.

[0029] Turning now in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagramoverview of a system that provides a restaurant menu dynamicallygenerated based on revenue management information according to anembodiment of the present invention. The system includes a centralserver 100 coupled to a number of printers 200 and electronic ordertakers 300.

[0030] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the centralserver 100 automatically and dynamically determines a price associatedwith an item to be included on a menu based at least partly on revenuemanagement information. For example, the central server 100 mayinitially assign a predetermined, or “default” price to an item andperiodically adjust the item's price based at least partly on therevenue management information.

[0031] The revenue management information may comprise, for example,information related to the current demand for, or previous sales of, theitem. For example, the revenue management information could reflect thenumber of items that have been sold over a given period of time. Thatis, if steak is being sold at an unusually quick pace, the price of thesteak on the menu may be slightly increased.

[0032] The revenue management information may also comprise, forexample, information related to the current supply, or inventory, of theitem. For example, the revenue management information could reflect thenumber of items that are currently in the kitchen's pantry. According toanother embodiment of the present invention, the inventory may alsoreflect a predicted amount of inventory, an age of inventory or a pricepaid for inventory. For example, if a supply of steaks is nearing theend of its useful life, or if the steaks had been purchased at anunusually inexpensive price, the revenue management information may beused to decrease the price of related items on the menu.

[0033] The revenue management information may simply reflect the currentsupply and demand, or may instead take “historical” information intoaccount, such as previous information related to particular days,time-of-days, day-of-weeks or month-of-years. For example, if sales ofsteak traditionally peak during Friday evenings in the winter, prices onthe menu could be automatically and dynamically adjusted accordingly.

[0034] According to an embodiment of the present invention, after thecentral server 100 automatically and dynamically determines a priceassociated with an item to be included on the menu, one or more menusare generated in response to a request, such as a request by arestaurant employee. The generated menu can then be, by way of example,displayed on a video monitor or printed by one of the printers 200. Ifthe number of people in a particular party is included with the requestfor a menu, the system can automatically print the proper number ofmenus.

[0035] According to another embodiment of the present invention, eachunique menu, including the set of items and associated prices on thatmenu, is assigned a “table” code. A customer's order, including thetable code, can then be entered, such as by an employee of therestaurant or a customer, into the system using, for example, a handheld communication device, a voice recognition device or any otherelectronic order taker 300. The electronic order taker 300 sends theorder information to the central server 100, and the system calculatesthe correct prices for the items that were ordered.

[0036] According to still another embodiment of the present invention,prices and/or items on the menu can also be based at least partly oninformation related to a customer associated with the request for themenu. For example, a card reading machine, a visual recognition unit ora manual input device may be used to identify a frequent customer. Thecentral server 100 may then, for example, automatically select thefrequent customer's favorite items to be included on the menu. Thecentral server 100 may also, if desired, use a fixed set of prices,instead of dynamically generated prices, for the frequent customer.Information about frequent customers can also comprise part of theinventory information used to generate menus. For example, if a frequentcustomer always orders steak at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the system can“reserve” one steak for that customer. Similarly, the average number ofsteaks ordered in a predetermined time period may be used to determine anumber of steaks that are reserved. Furthermore, steaks may be omittedfrom the menus provided to nonfrequent customers. A special discount,such as a discount that increases based on the amount of money spent bya customer, can also be used by the central server 100 to generate amenu or calculate a bill.

[0037] In addition to a “general” menu, the system may similarlygenerate “supplemental” menus for a customer according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. For example, the system maygenerate a dessert menu and/or a child's menu for the customer. As withthe general menu, a dynamically generated supplemental menu may containautomatically determined prices based at least in part on revenuemanagement information.

[0038]FIG. 2 is a block schematic diagram of a processing module 110 forthe central server 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The processing module 110 includes a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU) 120 coupled to: a clock 160; a networkcommunication port 150, which in turn is coupled to a network (not shownin FIG. 2); and “memories” comprising a Random Access Memory (RAM) 130and a Read Only Memory (ROM) 140. A storage device 400 is also coupledto the CPU 120.

[0039] The memories 130, 140 and/or the storage device 400 may storeinstructions adapted to be executed by the CPU 120 to perform at leastone embodiment of the method of the present invention. For example, thememories 130, 140 and the storage device 400 can store instructionsadapted to be executed by CPU 120 to automatically determine a priceassociated with an item included on a menu based at least partly onrevenue management information, and to generate a menu in response to arequest received by the network communication port 150.

[0040] For the purposes of this application, the memories 130, 140 andstorage device 400 could include any medium capable of storinginstructions adapted to be executed by a processor. Some examples ofsuch media include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, CD-ROM,magnetic tape, hard drives, and any other device that can store digitalinformation. In one embodiment, the instructions are stored on themedium in a compressed and/or encrypted format. As used herein, thephrase “adapted to be executed by a processor” is meant to encompassinstructions stored in a compressed and/or encrypted format, as well asinstructions that have to be compiled or installed by an installerbefore being executed by the processor.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 2, the storage device 400 contains a pricemanagement table database 500, which is described in detail with respectto FIGS. 3A to 3C. The storage device 400 also contains a frequentcustomer database 600, which is described in detail with respect to FIG.4, and a menu database 700, which is described in detail with respect toFIG. 5.

[0042] The storage device 400 may also contain inventory stockingprocess instructions 410 which can be used to have the CPU 120, forexample, update current inventory based on orders and to automaticallyplace orders for inventory based on current inventory. Post-purchaseprice evaluation process instructions 420 may be used to have the CPU120 evaluate prices after a purchase is made, and periodic priceevaluation process instructions 430 may be used to have the CPUperiodically evaluate prices, such as in response to information fromthe clock 160.

[0043]FIGS. 3A to 3C are tabular representations of the price managementtable database 500 shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the price managementtable database 500 has multiple data categories. For example, in FIG. 3Athe table includes a product identifier 512, a stocked quantity 514, anavailable quantity 516 and a current price 518. For example, there are15 units of swordfish currently stocked. Twelve of those are“available,” i.e. not reserved for another purpose such as an expectedfrequent customer, and the current price is $15.95.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 3B, the price management table database 500 alsoincludes an evaluation frequency 528, a last evaluation date/time 530, asales since last evaluation 532, a previous demand 534, a current demand536 and a demand increment 538. For example, the swordfish item isevaluated every two hours, and was last evaluated at 7:00. Two saleshave occurred since the last evaluation. Demand for the swordfish itemwas previously every 1.0 hour, and is currently every 0.9 hour. That is,the demand has slightly increased because the item is being ordered morefrequently. The swordfish has a demand increment of 5%, which can beused to adjust the price of the swordfish menu item, if desired.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 3C, the price management table database 500further includes a price adjustment increment 540, a minimum price 542,a suggested price 544 and a maximum price 546. For example, swordfishhas a suggested, or “default,” price of $12.50, but can vary frombetween $11.00 and $16.00 by $.50 increments.

[0046] The use of the price management table database 500 according toan embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Thesuggested price 544 can initially be based on, for example, historicaldata from the preceding day, the preceding week, or the preceding day ofweek. The current price 518 may be based on, for example, the number ofitems sold since the last evaluation 532. That is, if an item is sellingwell, the price increases. The current price 518 may instead be basedon, for example, the sales of an item per time unit. According to oneembodiment of the present invention, an item is assigned a specificprice for every range of sale per time unit (i.e.<5 items/hour=$2.00, 5items/hour=$2.25, and >5 items/hour=$2.50). This may be done, forexample, using the current demand 536 of the item.

[0047] According to another embodiment of the present invention, thecurrent price 518 may instead be incrementally adjusted, such as by ademand increment 538, based on the sales of an item per unit time. Forexample, each item may have an incremental adjustment that is fixed forranges of sales per unit time (i.e.<5 items/hour=−$.25, 5 items/hour=nochange, and>5 items/hour=+$.25).

[0048] According to other embodiments of the present invention, thecurrent price 518 may be based on the amount of inventory, such as thestocked quantity 514 or available quantity 516; the rate of sale for anitem compared to the rate of sales for other items; the change in salesper unit time, i.e., the current demand 536 as compared to the previousdemand 534; or the age of the product, in which case the price maydecrease as the item ages.

[0049]FIG. 4 is a tabular representation of the frequent customerdatabase 600 shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 4, the frequent customer database 600includes a name 602, a menu number 604, a day/date of last visit 606 afrequent customer identification number 608, an address 610, a phonenumber 612, a total number of visits 614 and an average time of day pervisit 616.

[0050] According to another embodiment of the present invention, therestaurant reserves, if possible, sufficient inventory to handle theneeds of frequent customers. For this purpose, the frequent customerdatabase 600 may be expanded to include this type of historicalinformation. By way of example, suppose a customer usually comes in at7:00 p.m. and orders a steak. After only one steak is left at 6:00 p.m.,the steak item may be excluded from the menus of non-frequent customers.If the frequent customer does not arrive by 7:00 p.m., the steak itemmay again appear on the menus of non-frequent customers.

[0051]FIG. 5 is a tabular representation of a record 701 of the menudatabase 700 shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The menu database 700 would typically include a record foreach menu generated. As shown in FIG. 5, the record 701 includes a menuheader 702 for the menu, such as a header indicating a menu number, anumber of people in the party, the date the menu was generated, a tablenumber and the time the menu was generated. Each menu also includes anentry for a number of menu items, including an item number 704, an itemname 706, an item price 708 and an item class 710.

[0052]FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow charts illustrating a method ofgenerating a revenue managed menu in a sit-down restaurant environmentaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The flow charts inFIGS. 6A and 6B, as well as the other flow charts discussed herein, arenot meant to imply a fixed order to the steps; an embodiment of thepresent invention can be practiced in any order that is practicable.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 6A, at step 802 the number of customers in aparty is determined. At step 804, the current prices are determinedusing a price management table database, such as the price managementtable database shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C. The current prices determined bythe price management database are stored at step 806.

[0054] If a frequent customer identifier is provided at step 808, thesteps shown in FIG. 6B are performed. If a frequent customer identifieris not provided at step 808, a menu with current dynamic prices isgenerated along with a menu code at step 810. A table code is generatedand added to the menu at step 812. Menus with current dynamic prices, amenu code and a table code are printed at step 814.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 6B, the frequent customer database, shown inFIG. 4, is checked to retrieve a menu code for the customer at step 816.At step 818, the menu code is used to over-ride the dynamic price systemfor the frequent customer and a menu with fixed prices is generated atstep 820. The menu is printed for the frequent customer at step 822,including enough copies for all members in the party, and the frequentcustomer database is updated at step 824.

[0056] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the systemmay customize menus for frequent customers in a number of ways. Theprices for items on these menus may be constant for the items that thefrequent customer usually orders, but the rest of the prices may changedynamically. If the customer does not order the same items consistently,then all the prices could remain the same as the ones on his or her lastmenu. There could also be a “regular menu” which lists static prices forall frequent customers, enabling the system to have a more limitedfrequent customer database (because all frequent customers would receivethe same menu).

[0057] According to another embodiment of the present invention, thesystem simply uses an over-ride function for frequent customers suchthat a menu is printed with default prices rather than with prices thathave been adjusted based on revenue management information. For example,the system may use predetermined “default” prices. This function couldbe initiated by an employee upon recognition of a customer, or afrequent customer can be recognized by a frequent customer “card,” acredit card or a smart card used each time the customer visits therestaurant. Another frequent customer embodiment uses a progressivediscount function that gives a customer increased benefits as the numberof visits to, or the amount of money spent at, the restaurant increases.A frequent customer's name and orders may be recorded in the frequentcustomer database for future use.

[0058]FIGS. 7A and 7B are flow charts illustrating a method of receivingand processing orders according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 7A, at step 902 a table code is received anda customer order is received from an electronic order-taker at step 904.At step 906, the menu corresponding to the table code is retrieved. Atstep 908 the process performs a look-up in the menu database todetermine prices for the ordered items and used to generate a subtotalat step 910 before the transaction is completed as indicated by step 912and FIG. 7B.

[0059] In other words, each order that is made by an ordering party iscorrelated to a menu code that corresponds to the menu from which theorder was made. According to one embodiment of the present invention,when a bill is requested the server enters the items ordered and themenu code (or table code) into, for example, an automated cash register.The system uses the menu code to look up the prices associated with theitems ordered. A total is then calculated using those prices. Note thateither a menu number, table number or any other code can be used toassociate an ordered item with an appropriate price.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 7B, if a customer already has frequent customerstatus at step 914, the transaction is completed normally as indicatedat steps 916 and 918. If a customer does not have frequent customerstatus at step 914, it is determined if the customer has now visited therestaurant enough times to be entitled to frequent customer status atstep 920. If not, the transaction is completed normally at step 918. If,on the other hand, the customer is entitled to frequent customer statusat step 920, a new record with available customer information is addedto the frequent customer database and a new menu is added to the menudatabase at step 922 before the transaction is completed at step 918.

[0061]FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of generating adesert menu according to an embodiment of the present invention. At step950 a table identification code is received. The menu identificationcode associated with the received table code is retrieved at step 952.The dessert menu portion of the menu associated with a specific menucode is retrieved at step 954 and the dessert menu is printed from theappropriate menu at step 956. If desired, a dessert menu could beprinted on the original menu. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the prices listed for desserts may be the same as the priceson the original menu. In this case, the code may be stored with the menucode and retrieved when the customer wants to order dessert. Forexample, when an employee needs to retrieve a dessert menu from aspecific menu code, he or she enters the menu code into the system andthe prices for the desserts listed for that code are automaticallyprinted on a new menu. If dessert is not included on the original menu,a dessert menu can be generated and printed in the same way as theoriginal menu.

[0062] Similar to the dessert menu, a child's menu may be printedseparately from the general menu upon request. The number of child'smenus to be generated can be based on, for example, the number ofchildren in the party. The child's menus may be included in the generalmenu, in which case a menu may or may not be printed for the child, asdesired. Similarly, any other supplemental menu (e.g. a dessert menu)may be included in a general menu.

[0063] Thus, the present invention lets a restaurant adjust prices insubstantially real-time based on revenue management information, such assupply and demand. This can reduce waste associated with less popularmenu items and enhance profits associated with more popular items.

[0064] The present invention has been described in terms of severalembodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled inthe art will recognize from this description that the invention is notlimited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced withmodifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically generating a menu,comprising: (a) automatically determining a price associated with a menuitem based at least partly on revenue management information; (b)receiving a request for a menu; and (c) generating a menu, including theautomatically determined price, in response to the request for a menu.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of automaticallydetermining a price comprises one of the following steps (i) assigning apredetermined price to the menu item; or (ii) adjusting a prior priceassociated with the menu item based at least partly on the revenuemanagement information.
 3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the revenuemanagement information comprises information related to previous salesof the menu item.
 4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the revenuemanagement information comprises information related to inventory of themenu item.
 5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the information related toinventory comprises information selected from the group including: (i) acurrent amount of inventory, (ii) a predicted amount of inventory, (iii)an age of inventory and (iv) a price paid for inventory.
 6. The methodof claim 1 , wherein the revenue management information comprisesprevious revenue management information associated with at least one of(i) previous days, (ii) previous same time-of-days, (iii) previous sameday-of-weeks and (iv) previous same month-of-years.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein the automatically determined price associated with themenu item is further based at least partly on information related to acustomer associated with the request for a menu.
 8. The method of claim7 , wherein the information related to the customer is received from atleast one of a card reading machine, a visual recognition unit and amanual input device.
 9. The method of claim 7 , comprising the furtherstep of: (d) automatically selecting menu items based at least partly onthe information related to the customer.
 10. The method of claim 7 ,wherein the information related to the customer comprises at least oneof (i) an indication that the customer is a frequent customer and (ii)information about past menu items ordered by the customer.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 , wherein the automatically determined price is notincluded on the generated menu based on the information about past menuitems ordered by the customer.
 12. The method of claim 10 , wherein anitem is not included on a menu generated for a second customer based onthe information about past menu items ordered by the customer.
 13. Themethod of claim 7 , wherein said step of automatically determining aprice further comprises the step of adjusting the price associated witha menu item based on information related to the customer.
 14. The methodof claim 1 , wherein the request for a menu comprises party sizeinformation associated with a number of people in a group, and theautomatically determined price associated with the menu item is furtherbased at least partly on the party size information.
 15. The method ofclaim 1 , comprising the further step of: (d) printing the menu.
 16. Themethod of claim 1 , comprising the further step of: (d) displaying themenu.
 17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the request for a menucomprises party size information associated with a number of people in aparticular party, and a number of menus are printed based at leastpartly on the party size information.
 18. The method of claim 1 ,wherein a plurality of menu items are on the menu, and the automaticprice determination is performed for at least one of the plurality ofmenu items.
 19. The method of claim 1 , comprising the further step of:(d) automatically selecting menu items based at least partly on therevenue management information.
 20. The method of claim 1 , comprisingthe further steps of: (d) receiving a request for a supplemental menu;and (e) generating the supplemental menu, including the automaticallydetermined price, in response to the request for the supplemental menu.21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the supplemental menu comprises atleast one of a dessert menu and a child's menu.
 22. A medium storinginstructions adapted to be executed by a processor to: (a) automaticallydetermine a price associated with a menu item based at least partly onrevenue management information; (b) receive a request for a menu; and(c) generate a menu, including the automatically determined price, inresponse to the request for a menu.
 23. The medium of claim 22 , whereinautomatically determining a price comprises one of: (i) assigning apredetermined price to the menu item; or (ii) adjusting a prior priceassociated with the menu item based at least partly on the revenuemanagement information.
 24. The medium of claim 22 , wherein the revenuemanagement information comprises information related to previous salesof the menu item.
 25. The medium of claim 22 , wherein the revenuemanagement information comprises information related to inventory of themenu item.
 26. The medium of claim 25 , wherein the information relatedto inventory comprises information selected from the group including:(i) a current amount of inventory, (ii) a predicted amount of inventory,(iii) an age of inventory and (iv) a price paid for inventory.
 27. Themedium of claim 22 , wherein the revenue management informationcomprises previous revenue management information associated with atleast one of (i) previous days, (ii) previous same time-of-days, (iii)previous same day-of-weeks and (iv) previous same month-of-years. 28.The medium of claim 22 , wherein the automatically determined priceassociated with the menu item is further based at least partly oninformation related to a customer associated with the request for amenu.
 29. The medium of claim 28 , wherein the information related tothe customer is received from at least one of a card reading machine, avisual recognition unit and a manual input device.
 30. The medium ofclaim 28 , comprising further instructions adapted to be executed by aprocessor to: (d) automatically select menu items based at least partlyon the information related to the customer.
 31. The medium of claim 28 ,wherein the information related to the customer comprises at least oneof (i) an indication that the customer is a frequent customer and (ii)information about past menu items ordered by the customer.
 32. Themedium of claim 31 , wherein the automatically determined price is notincluded on the generated menu based on the information about past menuitems ordered by the customer.
 33. The medium of claim 31 , wherein anitem is not included on a menu generated for a second customer based onthe information about past menu items ordered by the customer.
 34. Themedium of claim 28 , wherein said step of automatically determining aprice further comprises the step of reducing the price associated with amenu item based on information related to the customer.
 35. The mediumof claim 22 , wherein the request for a menu comprises party sizeinformation associated with a number of people in a group, and theautomatically determined price associated with the menu item is furtherbased at least partly on the party size information.
 36. The medium ofclaim 22 , comprising further instructions adapted to be executed by aprocessor to: (d) print the menu.
 37. The medium of claim 22 ,comprising further instructions adapted to be executed by a processorto: (d) display the menu.
 38. The medium of claim 37 , wherein therequest for a menu comprises party size information associated with anumber of people in a particular party, and a number of menus areprinted based at least partly on the party size information.
 39. Themedium of claim 22 , wherein a plurality of menu items are on the menu,and the automatic price determination is performed for at least one ofthe plurality of menu items.
 40. The medium of claim 22 , comprisingfurther instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to: (d)automatically select menu items based at least partly on the revenuemanagement information.
 41. The medium of claim 22 , comprising furtherinstructions adapted to be executed by a processor to: (d) receiving arequest for a supplemental menu; and (e) generating the supplementalmenu, including the automatically determined price, in response to therequest for the supplemental menu.
 42. The medium of claim 41 , whereinthe supplemental menu comprises at least one of a dessert menu and achild's menu.
 43. A menu generating system, comprising: (a) a first portadapted to receive a request for a menu; (b) a storage device storinginformation associated with a price management table, the pricemanagement table comprising prices associated with menu items; (c) aprocessor coupled to said first port and said storage device, saidprocessor being configured to: receive the request for a menu; generateinformation associated with a menu; and dynamically update prices storedin said storage device based at least partly on revenue managementinformation; and (d) a second port coupled to said processor, saidsecond port being adapted to output the information associated with amenu.
 44. The system of claim 43 , wherein said processor is configuredto automatically determine a price by (i) assigning a predeterminedprice to the menu item; or (ii) adjusting a prior price associated withthe menu item based at least partly on the revenue managementinformation.
 45. The system of claim 43 , wherein the revenue managementinformation comprises information related to previous sales of the menuitem.
 46. The system of claim 43 , wherein the revenue managementinformation comprises information related to inventory of the menu item.47. The system of claim 46 , wherein the information related toinventory comprises information selected from the group including: (i) acurrent amount of inventory, (ii) a predicted amount of inventory, (iii)an age of inventory and (iv) a price paid for inventory.
 48. The systemof claim 43 , wherein the revenue management information comprisesprevious revenue management information associated with at least one of(i) previous days, (ii) previous same time-of-days, (iii) previous sameday-of-weeks and (iv) previous same month-of-years.
 49. The system ofclaim 43 , wherein said processor is configured to dynamically updatedprices stored in said storage device based at least partly oninformation related to a customer associated with the request for amenu.
 50. The system of claim 49 , further comprising: (e) a customerinput device coupled to said processor and configured to provide theinformation related to the customer, said customer input devicecomprising at least one of a card reading machine, a visual recognitionunit and a manual input device.
 51. The system of claim 49 , whereinsaid processor is further configured to automatically select menu itemsbased at least partly on the information related to the customer. 52.The system of claim 49 , wherein the information related to the customercomprises at least one of (i) an indication that the customer is afrequent customer and (ii) information about past menu items ordered bythe customer.
 53. The system of claim 52 , wherein said processor doesnot use the automatically determined for some menu items based on theinformation about past menu items ordered by the customer.
 54. Thesystem of claim 52 , wherein said processor is further configured to notinclude a menu item in the information generated associated with asecond menu based on the information about past menu items ordered bythe customer.
 55. The system of claim 49 , wherein said processorautomatically determines a price by reducing the price associated with amenu item based on information related to the customer.
 56. The systemof claim 43 , wherein the request for a menu comprises party sizeinformation associated with a number of people in a group, and saidprocessor is further configured to generate information associated withthe menu based at least partly on the party size information.
 57. Thesystem of claim 43 , further comprising: (e) a printer coupled to saidsecond port.
 58. The system of claim 43 , further comprising: (e) avideo display coupled to said second port.
 59. The system of claim 58 ,wherein the request for a menu comprises party size informationassociated with a number of people in a particular party, and saidprinter prints a number of menus based at least partly on the party sizeinformation.
 60. The system of claim 43 , wherein a plurality of menuitems are on the menu, and said processor is configured to automaticallydetermine a price for at least one of the plurality of menu items. 61.The system of claim 43 , wherein said processor is further configured toautomatically select menu items based at least partly on the revenuemanagement information.
 62. The system of claim 43 , wherein said firstport is further adapted to receive a request for a supplemental menu,and said processor is further configured to generating informationassociated with the supplemental menu.
 63. The system of claim 62 ,wherein the supplemental menu comprises at least one of a dessert menuand a child's menu.
 64. An apparatus for dynamically generating a menu,comprising: (a) a processor; (b) a memory storing instructions adaptedto be executed by said processor to: (i) automatically determine a priceassociated with a menu item based at least partly on revenue managementinformation, (ii) receive a request for a menu, and (iii) generate amenu, including the automatically determined price, in response to therequest for a menu; and (c) a port adapted to be coupled to an externaldevice, said port being coupled to said processor.
 65. A system fordynamically generating a menu, comprising: (a) means for automaticallydetermining a price associated with a menu item based at least partly onrevenue management information; (b) means for receiving a request for amenu; and (c) means for generating a menu, including the automaticallydetermined price, in response to the request for a menu.
 66. A methodfor determining a price associated with an order, comprising: (a)automatically determining a price associated with a menu item based atleast partly on revenue management information; (b) receiving a requestfor a menu; (c) generating a menu, including the automaticallydetermined price, in response to the request for a menu; (d) assigning amenu code to the generated menu; (e) receiving an order for the menuitem, the order including the menu code; and (f) calculating a priceassociated with the order, using the menu code, based at least partly onthe automatically determined price associated with the menu item.
 67. Amethod for dynamically generating a restaurant menu, comprising: (a)automatically determining a price associated with a menu item based atleast partly on revenue management information, the automaticdetermination occurring on a periodic basis; (b) receiving a request fora menu; and (c) generating a menu, including the automaticallydetermined price, in response to the request for a menu.
 68. A methodfor dynamically generating a menu, comprising: (a) automaticallydetermining a price associated with a menu item based at least partly onrevenue management information; (b) receiving a request for a menu, therequest including information identifying a number of people in a party;and (c) printing a number of menus, including the automaticallydetermined price, in response to the request for a menu, the number ofprinted menus being based on the number of people in the party.
 69. Amethod of using dynamically generated menus in a restaurant, comprising:(a) automatically determining a first price associated with a menu itembased at least partly on revenue management information; (b) receiving arequest for a first menu; (c) generating the first menu, including theautomatically determined first price, in response to the request for thefirst menu; (d) automatically determining a second price associated withthe menu item based at least partly on revenue management information;(e) receiving a request for a second menu; (f) generating a second menu,including the second price, in response to the request for the secondmenu; (g) receiving an order for the menu item, the order beingassociated with one of the first menu and the second menu; and (h)determining a price for the order based at least partly on theautomatically determined price on one of the first menu and the secondmenu associated with the order.